After a tense day, a sense of calm returned to Poonthura and the adjacent wards of Manikyavilakam and Puthenpally with the State government and the district administration taking steps to address some of the concerns raised by the people.
But, the pandemic situation remained grim here, with close to 300 COVID-19 cases being reported. Early Saturday, District Collector Navjot Khosa announced the formation of a quick response team consisting of Revenue, police and Health department officials, specifically focussing on the area.
Poonthura had on Friday witnessed protests by the local people, fuelled partly by lack of access to essential items and partly by false rumours regarding testing.
The quick response team, under the Tahasildar and the incident commander, will function round the clock. It will monitor the transport of goods, and provision of water and electricity to the critical containment zone.
Instructions have been issued to post sufficient number of personnel at the community health centre at Poonthura and provide facilities including ambulance round the clock.
As per the instructions from the district administration, no hospital in the region is allowed to deny treatment. Screening test should be conducted on those displaying COVID-19 symptoms.
One of the major complaints of the local population was regarding the shortage of essentials, as most of the shops remained closed and the residents were being turned back from shops in adjacent wards. On Saturday morning, mobile Maveli stores, Haritha’s vegetable store, mobile ATMs, and mobile chicken stall became functional, with people queuing up in considerable numbers wherever they stopped.
“Now, the situation here has improved considerably compared to Friday. But, quite a few people appear in public without masks and physical distancing norms are not being followed everywhere. There is a shortage of police personnel on the roads after a junior SI tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Friday leading to some personnel to go on quarantine. The city Corporation has distributed 20,000 masks in Poonthura and surrounding wards, but some more awareness on the need for wearing masks and follow physical distancing needs to happen,” says Sony, Health Inspector, Poonthura.
The body of 67-year-old Saifudeen, the first COVID-19 death in the Poonthura region, was buried in the afternoon by Health Department and city Corporation officials following all protocols.